The Museum of the Sea Cascais, also known as the Museu do Mar D. Carlos, opened in June 1992. It has the name of the Portuguese King D. Carlos who was a keen oceanographer. He was also an artist with a collection of watercolours. This museum is a study of the marine creatures and sea life very much connected to Cascais and surrounding areas.
Mammals and artifacts:
Models of mammals and some artifacts form part of the exhibits. The collections are in small galleries or sections. The mammals are in groups. These include porcupine fish and various types of sharks, the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna and the sperm whale.
Model of fishing boat which was used in the past and fisherman
Models of fishermen with their traditional clothes and nets are on display.
Also shown here is the typical clothing of the time: dresses, aprons and slippers worn by the women who helped with preparing and selling the fish. These women played an important part in the community.
Navigational Instruments
Instruments for navigation including compasses and lanterns are among the exhibits. You can see a bronze gun cast at Florence dating to the seventeenth century and cannon balls from the seventeenth century found in Carcavelos. Part of the collection are silver coins dating to the eighteenth century found in the São Julião da Barra and Troia waters. Ceramics, mainly vases and jars, from the eighteenth and nineteenth century form part of the collection.
A curious find 
is the picnic hamper with kettle and burner dating to the nineteenth century.
You can see old cannons from the Tejo and Sado estuaries. Roman vases utilised to transport fish paste from the Sado estuary to provincial towns are on display.
There are audio-visual equipment to view videos. The first floor has an exhibition of sea-shells collected from various oceans.
The Museum of the Sea is one of a handful of museums in the Cascais borough with an interesting collection on the education of marine life. It is located at Rua Julio Pereira de Mello, Cascais. Open: Tuesday to Friday: 10am to 5pm. Saturday/Sunday: 10am – 1pm and 2pm – 5pm. Closed Monday and holidays. Tel: +351-214815906.
By Pat Rodrigues